In a striking twist to Nigeria’s democratic transition story, Abubakar said the same coalition that fiercely opposed military rule under the late General Sani Abacha later sought additional time for the transition process after realising they were politically unprepared for the return to democratic governance.
The former military ruler made the disclosure in his autobiography, unveiled on Saturday during activities marking his 84th birthday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
According to him, many NADECO leaders were initially sceptical of his transition programme, having witnessed repeated broken promises by previous military administrations.
However, once they became convinced that his government was committed to relinquishing power on schedule, some of them approached him seeking an extension.
“Two to three months into my administration, some NADECO members realised that I was sincere about the handover date,” Abubakar recalled.
“They felt they had missed the train and wanted more time to organise themselves politically. They came to me as a group and requested that the transition programme be extended.”
Abubakar said he turned down the request, insisting that he had already made a commitment to Nigerians and the international community to return the country to democratic rule within the stipulated timeframe.
To test the sincerity of their demand, he challenged the NADECO leaders to publicly own it.
“I told them that if they wrote to me and publicly announced that they had requested an extension, I would grant it. But they never did. I knew they would not,” he said.
The former Head of State disclosed that pressure to prolong military rule also came from some foreign leaders who believed his administration had restored stability following Abacha’s death and the easing of political tensions and international sanctions.
However, he maintained that he never considered extending his stay in office because Nigeria had reached a critical point where a return to democratic rule had become inevitable.